Rentokil awarded Queen's Award for Enterprise

RNS Number : 7887C

Rentokil Initial PLC

21 April 2017

Rentokil Pest Control is awarded The Queen's Award for Enterprise

Rentokil Initial plc (FTSE: RTO) is delighted to announce that its Rentokil Pest Control business has been awarded The Queen's Award for Enterprise for International Trade, recognising the business's outstanding achievement in global trade.

The Queen's Award celebrates enterprise and business excellence, and is the UK's highest accolade for business success. It consists of a Grant of Appointment, which is awarded for five years. Her Majesty The Queen publicly announced the winners today, 21 April 2017, in the London Gazette.

Summary:

· Rentokil's international pest control revenues increased by 73% between 2010 and 2015, and in 2016 total ongoing revenues (inc. UK) grew by 25.9%.

· Rentokil has expanded its pest control operations significantly in North America, Latin and Central America, Middle East, Asia and Pacific over the last three years.

· Rentokil's depth of expertise and global experience has seen the business win some of the most prestigious pest control contracts including the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games.

· Innovation and the development of differentiated products have been integral to its success. Recent innovations include Lumnia (the first commercial range of LED fly control units), RapidPro (fastest-acting bait for mouse infestations) and PestConnect (digital pest control for 24/7 monitoring and fast response).

Commenting on the award, Andy Ransom, Chief Executive of Rentokil Initial plc said:

"We are extremely proud to receive The Queen's Award for Enterprise. Being acknowledged in this way is a fantastic achievement and is testament to the hard work and commitment of our colleagues across the world.

"Rentokil is an outstanding business and has grown significantly over recent years, strengthening our position as global leaders in pest control through a relentless focus on innovation, digital services and the expertise of our people.

"The business has great opportunities to continue its success with multiple drivers of growth and increasing demand around our international markets."

ENDS

Rentokil Pest Control - Background information

Rentokil is the world's leading commercial pest control business, now operating in over 66 countries around the world and with market-leading positions in 46 of these including in continental Europe, Asia, Pacific, South Africa, the Middle East and in the UK. Rentokil has a rapidly growing business in North America - the largest pest control market in the world - and has also expanded in Central and Latin America in recent years. In 2017, Rentokil became the leading pest control provider in India. The business's strategic focus is to increase its exposure to its emerging and growth markets in which the growth opportunity is greatest, using its expertise, innovation and digital services to build on its market-leading positions.

Rentokil's depth of expertise and experience has seen the business win some of the most challenging and prestigious pest control contracts internationally. In 2016 Rentokil successfully delivered a full range of pest control services, including mosquito control, to the Rio de Janiero Olympic and Paralympic Games as part of the extensive risk management approach undertaken by the Rio 2016 Organising Committee. Also in 2016, Rentokil was awarded a contract by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help control the species of mosquito that could potentially carry the Zika virus across the USA and its protectorates.

Innovation and development of differentiated products are at the heart of what Rentokil does and have been integral to its success. In the last three years Rentokil's UK-based research scientists have developed a pipeline of innovations, enabling Rentokil to bring to market new products such as Lumnia, the first range of electronic fly killers using LED lighting rather than traditional blue-light fluorescent tubes, and RapidPro, the world's fastest-acting rodenticide for effective reduction of mouse infestations. In 2016 Rentokil had 15 innovation or design patents applications in progress.

Rentokil's market-leading digital expertise, is another important driver of the business's growth. It continually enhances and deploys new digital products to improve services, sell more effectively and improve the customer experience. PestConnect, Rentokil's new 'Internet of Things' remote monitoring system for rodents, is setting a new standard in pest control and is the world's smartest mouse trap. It is now used in over 1,200 customer premises across 12 countries and has sent over twenty million individual data messages relating to the presence of rodent activity and service productivity, enabling Rentokil's technicians to be more efficient and to deliver a better customer service. Rentokil's digital leadership was further evidenced in 2016 with the launch of a collaboration with Google which will lead to the global deployment of innovative digital pest control products and, in the future, to the development of 'next generation' services to proactively combat against the threat of pest infestation.

The global pest control market is worth $16bn per year. It covers a vast array of pests, and dynamics such as climate change and urbanisation, increased economic activity, increasing regulatory and environmental standards, and demographic changes continue to shape the market and drive growth.

About Rentokil Initial plc

Rentokil Initial is one of the largest business services companies in the world, operating in over 66 countries. The Company offers route-based services including Pest Control, Hygiene and Workwear through teams of local experts.

www.rentokil-initial.com

www.rentokil.com

In 2016, Rentokil Initial was voted 25^th in the list of Britain's Most Admired Companies (Source: Management Today).

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